Udhayanidhi Stalin's 'dead language' remark on Sanskrit earns BJP's wrath
The state BJP office bearer argued that Sanskrit's preservation was a national responsibility and noted that successive governments, including those supported by the DMK, had encouraged its study
(L-R) BJP state chief spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin
CHENNAI: BJP state chief spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy on Saturday strongly condemned Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's recent remarks on the three-language policy and Sanskrit, terming them "provocative, divisive, and factually misleading."
Addressing a book launch event in Chennai on Friday, Udhayanidhi criticised the Union government over allocating a Rs 150 crore fund for the development of the Tamil language, and said, in contrast, Sanskrit, "a dead language", was getting Rs 2,400 crore.
In a statement, he alleged that Udhayanidhi's comments reflected the DMK's "long-standing habit of triggering linguistic sentiments and fostering political animosity" rather than engaging in constructive dialogue.
The BJP leader asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promoted Tamil globally like "no leader before him."
Echoing his comments, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, "Once again insulting and abusing Hindus and our culture, Udhayanidhi Stalin is now saying that Sanskrit is a dead language," the BJP spokesperson said, slamming the remarks as "cheap and disgusting". He added, "Udhayanidhi Stalin forgets that Sanskrit is the foundation of our culture and religious texts as well as the faith of millions of Hindus."
Narayanan further accused DMK leaders of deliberately diminishing Tamil through colloquial distortions despite claiming to champion linguistic purity. "Even their names are derived from Sanskrit, the same language they demean," he said.
The state BJP office bearer argued that Sanskrit's preservation was a national responsibility and noted that successive governments, including those supported by the DMK, had encouraged its study. He alleged that Udhayanidhi's statements were intended to incite linguistic hostility. Bhatia slammed that Udhayanidhi was becoming "synonymous with anarchy and division".
On Friday, former state president of BJP, K Annamalai, said the central government has allocated Rs 2,400 crore to Sanskrit because there are many Sanskrit universities in India.
"The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), now the Ministry of Education, allocates funds to universities. We continuously tell DMK: talk to MHRD and open new Tamil universities in Bihar, Guwahati, and Delhi," he said.
